Monday, May 10, 2010

Achieving More with Less: A new way of rice cultivation

“Achieving More with Less: A new way of rice cultivation" is a multimedia toolkit, using audio-visual materials to illustrate knowledge and techniques on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The information presented is based on field practices and results seen from many countries, research, documentation, photographs, first hand accounts and interviews. With increasing pressures being placed on natural and financial resources, and continuing threats to food security, this toolkit is being produced to disseminate SRI knowledge to a wider audience.

“The World Bank Institute, through knowledge sharing and learning, seeks to inspire, inform and catalyze development practitioners into action, and help them undertake innovative reforms that will reduce poverty around the globe. This multimedia toolkit on the System of Rice Intensification is a great example of the power of information and its potential to shape future actions geared towards achieving more with less.”

— Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President, World Bank Institute

The System of Rice Intensification, known as SRI, is a set of farming practices developed to increase the productivity of land and water, as well as other resources. SRI is based on the principle of developing healthy, large and deep root systems that can better resist drought, water logging and wind damage. It consists of six key elements to better manage inputs, utilize new ways to transplant seedlings, and to manage water and fertilizer application. Reports from thousands of SRI farmers and practitioners around the world indicate that SRI plants develop stronger stalks and more tillers, with higher yields and even better flavor qualities. The growing world population and the need for food security, increasing scarcity of water resources, predicted changes to climate, and inefficiencies in current cultivation practices all require more sustainable farming and at the same time, higher productivity of land and water. Growing more with less - SRI applications increasingly are showing that it is indeed possible.
This toolkit contains four sections:

Applying SRI - An application of SRI in the Philippines (known locally as Sustainable System of Irrigated Agriculture –SSIA), showing how one country has adapted the SRI principles to local conditions and traditions, and has benefited from the results. The application is presented as a step-by-step guide for farmers.

Viewpoints - Interviews with farmers and practitioners, researchers and scientists, as well as managers and financiers, on SRI and its challenges.